I guess the topic of quality sellers on Ebay has been one of the most popular here on FPN and other forums. There are a lot of very good and honest sellers out there. I have bought from them over the years - pens as well as Zippo lighters. The sellers I tend to buy from most often are well versed in fountain pens even if that is not their main business. I look at the other items the seller has or has had for sale. If they seem to be doing a brisk business in pens, have a stellar rating, fair prices, good photos and descriptions and will politely and helpfully answer questions, I'll buy from them.

When I started buying, collecting and selling pens, I did not know what to ask. FPN forums were invaluable to me and still are in that regard. I love dealing with other FPNers - they are a very helpful and resourceful group. Dealing on Ebay requires some diligence and care. Often a deal that appears to be too good to be true isn't.

I have made mistakes when buying, usually my fault because I was rash in my decision, did not have sufficient information or thought I was scoring the deal of the century (greed?). Once in a while a pen was not as advertised but I have never had a seller who did not offer a discount or make it right. Yes, I compromised a few times.

I am able to do most run of the mill restorations myself so when I buy a used pen I usually can calculate if it is worth buying and fixing it up. When I send a pen out to a restorer, I ask that they let me know the cost once they see the pen but before they start work. That way I am only out the cost of postage if the work is more extensive than I can afford or want to go through with. I may have misunderstood the OP's original comment, but it seems that the cost of repair/restoration of the pens was a surprise.

The cost of postage, especially with tracking and/or delivery confirmation has made mailing international very difficult. I like Priority Mail for domestic mail and currently also use it for International. Flat rate small box is about $19.50 for Priority Mail International. On a pen under $100, that is expensive. Plus, the tracking and delivery confirmation complications make it even more difficult to sell globally.

If the pen doesn't say restored, I usually anticipate that I'm going to have to restore it with the cost being up towards 40$ more. Unless of course it's one of those ones that I feel I could restore myself (then the cost is more like $2-5 if the body/nib/feed already seems like it's in good shape but needs a new sac or j-bar etc).

But I do feel your pain as far as going on a binge goes.

I'm just waiting on a restore of a Parker 51 Vac in Grey... the barrel cracked, was about $30 more to get a new barrel.

I watched a Pilot Scholar on Speerbob's site for the longest time. In the end I could not reconcile how much the price had risen for such an unpopular pen in a little over a year ($30 to $50). In the end I didn't get it. Shame really as I rather liked the shape of the nib, almost a poor man's posting nib. Of course this says nothing about Bob's reputation for packaging (which is great from all reports).

Hi, The Scholar price went up because the last lot of them I bought cost me 50% more than in the past due to exchange rates and the fact that the supplier raised their prices. To them the pens are just commodities and when prices go up they raise their price. They don't care if it's new or old. In the past I might have passed on a deal like that but at the time I had several people on a waiting list for the pen. You called it unpopular but I have sold over 500 of them in the last 5 years so I wouldn't call that unpopular. Cheers, Bob

I bought two Korean Scholars off Bob in February this year IIRC. The nib is nowhere near being a poor man's Posting nib. It is the usual Pilot Fine. It is a proper inset nib however. I had a problem with leakage with one of the converters, Bob agreed to send me a replacement along with my next order, this thread reminded me that I must place the order with Bob.

I was under the impression that it was an unpopular pen. Just look at how many reviews you can find - virtually none. I have seen none on Ebay other than yours. That you have sold 500+ is astonishing! Well, that's me learned.

There is one review on here, oops just checked it was from 2009, looks like I got my time frame all mixed up. $30 to $50 in 5 years is not so bad after all. My apologies again Bob, I wasn't casting aspersions really.

Still can't afford it though, and my focus had therefore changed. I got a 78G for $9 that performed well enough for my needs and to hell with aesthetics!

Hari, I thought it looked a bit like a PO nib with its down-turned end. I am not saying it is a PO nib.

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